Zayne had passed the first stage and that was already an accomplishnt, but there were two more to go, and that alard him. He had enough willpower to make it to the very end, however, his body had a limit that he couldn't control.
If his wounds caused him to lack the strength to even stand on his own two feet, it would be over for him at that mont. Willpower influenced his mind, but it couldn't magically give him energy.
But, Zayne wasn't the only one who realized this. In the beginning, Chaos Trial gave Zayne a choice, and he decided to take the amulet with three signs, so... there was a reward for choosing the harder option.
Zayne didn't know this, so he didn't realize that the fruit in front of him wasn't sothing bad or part of the second stage. It was his well-deserved reward and a short break before moving on.
In the end, the first stage was the easiest as Zayne just needed to win the 1 vs 1 battle. This couldn't be called sothing sufficient for the Awakened Process instigated by Chaos itself.
The fruit lying in the center of the flower was heart-shaped and as red as blood itself. The fruit seed to pulse slightly, but it was so imperceptible that Zayne wasn't sure what he was seeing.
Zayne stood still for a while, he didn't want to take any chances as he thought it might be a test.
Flower realized this and deliberately approached him, bringing the fruit almost to Zayne's mouth. All he had to do was just open his mouth and take a bite.
'Well... Though I'm not at all sure about this, but it looks like I have no other choice, right? If this fruit turns out to be poisonous, then I'm dead, but what's the point? Despite its contradictions, I couldn't say that Chaos prefers to use insidious and nefarious thods.'' Zayne internally muttered before grabbing the fruit and taking the first bite.
The dense juice quickly filled his mouth, causing Zayne's eyes to go wide with surprise. There seed to be far more liquid than could physically fit into this fruit.
Zayne didn't bother to stop. He didn't know why, but with each bite, he liked the flavor more and more, so he continued to eat, as if srized.
"Commander... Doesn't that an that Zayne Fellen just stood on the Chaos side?" Fosca asked with a confused expression.
As a Fate Knight, she knew that any contact with Chaos was strictly forbidden.
If a Fate Knight, or even a re candidate, was found to be in contact with Chaos, it was the end for them. They were imdiately declared enemies and very quickly ca to the point where they took their last breath.
The sa applied to Chaos Energy, Fate Knights had to be clean since they were subject to Fate.
In the vast majority of cases, this was not a problem as each Fate Knight followed Fate of their own free will. After all, the Empire's territory was much larger than the Dark Lands, that was for sure.
Marcus took a deep breath, "No. You must realize that such a situation doesn't fall under the general protocol. That doesn't an that Zayne can absorb Chaos Energy and get away with it. A special case and investigation will be set up for him."
"It needs to be found out if Chaos Energy was in that fruit and if Zayne Fellen is at fault for eating it in such a situation. In any case, his intentions are what matters most. If you're loyal to Fate, then so be it." Marcus said confidently, looking intently at Zayne.
A thick red liquid was running down the corners of Zayne's mouth, but it wasn't blood, it was the juice of the fruit. He was just eating too fast since he couldn't help himself because of how delicious it was.
Crackle.
Swallowing the last bite, Zayne wanted to take another and another. But, there was nothing more left. He felt a deep emptiness as if he had lost the most precious thing in his life.
Then, his blue eyes flashed brightly with amber flas. The fire quickly covered his entire body, but it did not harm him in any way; instead, all of Zayne's wounds healed quickly.
However, this was only a partial effect of the fruit, for Zayne felt sothing else strange when his consciousness moved into the dark space.
There were still his arcs, and two spheres, a blue one, and a red one. They represented his power and the amount of Chaos and Fate energy in his body.
The arcs began to tremble, but they quickly cald down, as if that wasn't enough to make any changes to them. It was simply still too early.
The blue sphere remained unchanged, but the red one increased significantly, becoming even slightly larger than the blue one.
For a mont, Zayne saw sothing strange in his space. There appeared the silhouette of a huge wolf as well as a star silhouette, and sothing was behind them.
Zayne didn't have ti to look because as soon as he blinked, the silhouettes imdiately disappeared, and Zayne returned to the real world.
The flower had already disappeared, and in front of him, there was only a small fla of scarlet fire waiting for its turn.
Zayne raised his head, looking at the flaming stone pillar and muttered, "Well, I'm ready to move on. Next shield... right?"
Obviously, no one bothered to answer Zayne, he was alone in the middle of a large lake, but Chaos heard him, or at least the flas that should have taken him further.
Whoooooooosh.
The fire flared brightly, creating a massive portal beyond which nothing could be seen. Then, an hourglass appeared above the portal, with red sand slowly dripping down. Zayne had about five minutes to clean himself up and move on.
Zayne could have gone straight into the portal or used that ti to rest, but he decided to do sothing else.
After he ate the fruit, he felt a strange energy within him, very similar to when he used the power of a wolf or star silhouette.
"Agh...? What's he going to do?" Kota was puzzled while looking at Zayne, and then he with a serious expression jumped into the water.
"What...!!!!" Kota exclaid in a daze, "He doesn't have much ti! Shouldn't he hurry up and enter the portal?! Otherwise, Chaos will destroy him!"
Whooooooooooooosh.
Before Kota could notice anything Edvin grabbed her by the nape like a kitten pulling her closer to him. His cold eyes stared at her as if he was contemplating what to do to her.
"Hey... I'm already starting to regret letting you co with us. Do you have to be surprised by everything all the ti? If you want to learn sothing, I would advise you to watch Zayne's actions carefully. Right now he's becoming the best version of himself." Edvin said seriously before letting go of Kota.
Kota dropped to the ground and silently directed her gaze towards the lake.
At the sa mont, Zayne swam out, and in his hand was now Valira's trident.
"What...? He decided to go looting?" Sara frowned, "Honestly, I didn't expect that from him at all... If he wants to beco a Fate Knight, he'll need to get rid of such bad habits."
"You're wrong." Marcus calmly said.
"Hm?" Sara gave him a questioning look.
"He showed honor to Valira by making the best last attack for the final skirmish in their fight. Do you think a man like him would steal weapons from his fallen opponent?" Marcus glanced at Sara, showing that it was foolish, "Moreover, it is obvious that he does not know how to use such a weapon. He uses a sword."
Sara didn't answer anything, but she still didn't understand what Zayne's purpose was. Well, she couldn't be blad for that, since only Zayne understood what he wanted to test.
'Looks like this fruit didn't just heal , but also brought closer to the next stage or grade...' Maybe that's how one goes through the Awakened Process? Zayne pondered, looking at the long trident.
Zayne took a deep breath, and as soon as he opened his eyes they returned to their natural blue color. However, for so reason, they were slightly brighter than usual.
Whoooooooooooooosh.
Zayne swung his trident, making a sharp and precise forward attack, which caused light wind currents from behind the sharp tips. Marcus was right, Zayne didn't know how to use the trident, so he was just repeating after Valira.
For a while, Zayne did simple attacks until it was his turn for sothing more serious. He focused and lunged forward sharply as Valira did during her last attack.
Very quickly Zayne found himself a few ters away from the stone disk, leaving behind him a long trail across the water with light waves coming off of it.
'Wait... That's not all I can do, that's only half...' Zayne muttered internally as his feet began to sink into the water.
Then, his eyes took on a slight red tint almost imperceptible. His muscles tensed, and then he brought the trident down on the water, not using any technique, just brute force like with a normal stick.
Tremble.
The lake rippled, then a massive pillar of water rose up from the point of impact as if from a massive explosion.
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